Ghosts of the Past
by mirrorOfsin
Summary: For Isabella LJ Comm. Secret Santa. A little girl ran with a daisy crown in her wild hair, following her dark haired brother who laughed and called to her...beautiful ghosts of the past. Reviews are love! x


Summary/Request: Isabella as a young woman. What was her relationship with Guy like? What was life like when they were alone? Was she ever happy with Thornton?  
Notes: It is a little bittersweet. Any mistakes are mine and I have been playing around with a few ideas that I might post later.

I hope you enjoy! And Merry Christmas! xx

Ghosts of the Past

...She crouched low in the bushes covering her mouth with her hand to try to stop the giggle that she could feel rise. From her hiding in place she could hear Guy loudly count to fifty then give and yell that he was coming to get her. The thrill of the game made her heart thump in her chest and again the urge to laugh rose. Guy rustled some bushes, looked around trees and even up them (once she had climbed one and he had taken ages to find her) then he came near to her hiding place. She must have let out a little squeak for he pounced but already suspecting that, she leapt out and ran.

"Catch me!" she shouted jubilantly and he let out a laugh running right after her. She ran straight back to the village with a shout but he was much faster and caught hold of her. They stalled and tumbled down rolling, laughing and scrambling against each other.

"Get off!" she shrieked laughing as he stopped her attempts to get up. "You're ruining my clothes!"

"Like you care," Guy retorted grinning and tackling her again.

"Isabella! Guy!" the sharp call of their mother had them leapt up to attention. Their mother wasn't harsh but she often used her strict voice to get their attention quickly.

"What have I told you about getting your clothes dirty like that?" she scolded and Isabella hung her head. "The two of you, fighting like that in the middle of the street! And that's your new dress!"

"We weren't fighting mother, we were playing!" Isabella protested pushing strands of her coffee coloured hair out of her face.

"Ah leave them," their father said strolling with a smile. "Let them have a bit of fun. We can clean that dress but no doubt she'll get it dirty again."

Their mother still didn't look like she approved but nevertheless sighed and waved them off. Isabella put her muddy hand in Guy's pulling away back into the woods were they could carry on playing their secret games...

Isabella smiled fondly at the memory. She had many like this or ones were Guy was her sole protector, her knight in shining armour. The years when it had been just the two of them, despite their terrible disposition, had been bearable because he was there. He had made her laugh when she cried, held her when she was scared and made her believe that she could get through.

Her dreams however had been shattered by the very man who had made them. Years now she could, if she tried to, understand why he had done what he had but still she found it hard for her heart to forgive. Her marriage to Thornton, despite it being a way out of the hell she was living, had been a sham and the darkest period of her life. She had tried to see it for the best but her hate for her husband and brother gnawed away at her every day. She grew bitter and more resentful with every passing moment and revenge began to fester deep in her mind. When the day came for her to finally break free and run she found herself stumbling back with her brother.

And it was like she had stumbled back into the past for a moment when their eyes met and all breath left her lungs. The boy she loved had turned into the man she hated but for a few brief moments that passed between them everything was erased and they were once again the innocents that they had been.

Curling up under the bed covers she closed her eyes and opened her mind up to the memories that flooded her instantly. A little girl ran with a daisy crown in her wild hair, following her dark haired brother who laughed and called to her...beautiful ghosts of the past.

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a/n: this was a secret santa gift for an_lagat_glas on livejournal. Reviews are love x


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